The influence of climate on mountain denudation has been the topic of an intense debate for two decades. This debate partly arises from the covariation of rainfall and topography during the growth of mountain ranges, both of which influence denudation. However, the denudational response of this co-evolution is poorly understood. Here, we use a landscape evolution model where the rainfall evolves according to a prescribed rainfall-elevation relationship. This relationship is a bell curve defined by a rainfall base level, a rainfall maximum and a width around the rainfall peak elevation. This is a firstorder model that fits a large range of orographic rainfall data at the ca. 1-km spatial scale. We carried out simulations of an uplifting block with an alluvial apron, starting from an initially horizontal surface, and testing different rainfall-elevation relationships. We find Highlights 1576 | EAGE ZAVALA et AL.

The widening and deepening of river valleys occur at different rates. This co‐evolution is largely undocumented over thousands of years. Uncertainties on incision and widening laws limit the ability of models to reproduce erosion rates and responses to tectonics and climate over geologic timescales. We studied two 1 km‐deep canyons in northern Chile, both characterized by valley widening after the upward migration of a major knickzone but with a diachronous incision initiation. We use 10Be concentrations measured in colluvial deposits to quantify the erosion rates E of along‐stream valley flanks. We observe that E increases in the knickzone, with well‐defined relationships (R2 = 0.7): E increases quasilinearly with the valley‐bed slope and decreases with the valley width (exponent ∼‐0.4). Our results suggest that E decreases with time but that valley flank weathering may sustain a significant lateral erosion rate. Our results provide data for testing erosion laws governing valley widening.

<p>The downstream increase in valley width is an important feature of fluvial landscapes that may be evident to anyone: even if local exceptions exist, wide fluvial valleys in plains are distinctive of narrow upstream mountainous ones. Yet, the processes and rates governing along-stream valley widening over timescales characteristic of landscape development (>1-10 ka) are largely unknown. No suitable law exists in landscape evolution models, thus models imperfectly reproduce the landscape evolution at geological timescales, their rates of erosion and probably their response to tectonics and climate. Here, we study two 1 km-deep canyons in northern Chile with diachronous incision initiation, thus representing two time-stage evolutions of a similar geomorphic system characterized by valley widening following the upward migration of a major knickzone. We use 10Be cosmogenic isotope concentrations measured in colluvial deposits at the foot of hillslopes to quantify along-stream valley flank erosion rates. We observe that valley flank erosion rate increases quasi-linearly with valley-bed slope and decreases non-linearly with valley width. This relation suggests that lateral erosion increases with sediment flux due to higher channel mobility. In turn, valley width exerts a negative feedback on lateral valley flank erosion since channels in wide valleys have a lower probability of eroding the valley sides. This implies a major control of river divagation on valley flank erosion rate and valley widening. Our study provides the first data for understanding the long-term processes and rates governing valley widening in landscapes.</p>